Students returning to The University of Texas at Dallas campus for the fall semester will find the new Sciences Building has opened and a portion of Rutford Avenue is now a landscaped pedestrian promenade. The University’s positive response to COVID-19 depends on it.”ConstructionThe new 186,000-square-foot Sciences Building opened in July and houses the Department of Physics, classrooms, offices, teaching and research labs, and some activities of the William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences. The building features 150-seat and 300-seat lecture halls and an open courtyard with green space and seating areas. The new building is an “absolutely gorgeous space,” said Dr. Matthew Goeckner, interim head of physics and associate dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM). Outside the Sciences Building, students will be able to enjoy the new pedestrian-only section of Rutford Avenue as part of the third phase of the ongoing Campus Landscape Enhancement project.